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MBABANE – The community of Mafucula wants at least 20 per cent shares and employment opportunities from the Royal Eswatini Sugar (RES) Corporation.

This is in respect of compensation after their relocation in the early 1980s for the purposes of making space for sugar cane plantations and milling.

Last week Monday, the Mafucula Resettlement Concerned Citizens (MRCC) Committee petitioned the company management, making a number of demands.

“The community of Mafucula, who were removed from their ancestral land of Mbuluzi in or around 1980 to 1983 hereby petition the Board of Directors and management of the Royal Eswatini Sugar (RES) Corporation for restorative justice. The Mbuluzi community was removed from its ancestral lands to give way to the establishment of the sugar plantation and milling, which is now trading as RES Corporation. For years, it was trading as Simunye Sugar Estate or the Royal Swaziland Sugar Corporation,” this is according to the petition, which the Committee Coordinator, Sicelo Vilane, confirmed.

Before the demands are highlighted, the petition highlights a historical background where it states that the then King Sobhuza II and some foreign investors led by one Goshe Szokolay, together with Tibiyo Taka Ngwane, when allegedly removing the people from their ancestral land in Mbuluzi from 1980 to 1983, made a number of promises to the affected community and its people.

Petition

The petition alleges that King Sobhuza II advised that the new company would become what he termed, ‘Lijozi LemaSwati’ (the Johannesburg of emaSwati), in that the people of Eswatini would have access to employment opportunities in the new business venture and stop migrating to the mines of neighbouring South Africa as immigrant labourers.

“For what the King pronounced and as the rightful owners of the land, the people of Mbuluzi expected to be considered for employment opportunities in the new company. The community also expected that the youth of the area would be assisted with training opportunities so that they could be employed by the company that came into existence in their ancestral lands,” reads the petition in part.

It continues to state that the people’s homesteads were demolished to give way to the newly-established company. Road infrastructure was not developed in the area in which they were relocated. There is no nearby healthcare facility, community members must travel long distances to access medical care yet the area in which they were relocated is allegedly infested with malaria. There is lack of schools and educational facilities. There is scarcity of water accessibility in the area at which they were relocated, unlike the previous locations where they easily accessed the Mbuluzi River and other tributaries.

Promises

“40 years later, the people of Mafucula are still waiting for the company to keep its promises. It is against this background that, we, the people of Mafucula, have come together to petition the RES Corporation for it to keep their side of the agreement,” reads the document.

Ten demands have been highlighted by the committee. The first demand seeks compensation from the company for the use of the people’s lands over the many years. It states the company has been in operation up to this date and the calculations of such profits sharing shall be discussed and agreed upon by the community and the company.

Despite having not mentioned the proposed sharing ratio, Vilane has indicated that they planned not to settle for less than 20 per cent shares.

Secondly, they want compensation of the community for their demolished homesteads as was done which affected communities when relocated for the construction of the Nkoyoyo/ Mbabane highway and King Mswati III International Airport at Sikhuphe.

They want compensation of the community in respect of removal and burial of their ancestors at the new sites. They demand provision of water infrastructure for domestic and commercial use and the development of roads infrastructure.

MBABANE – “The building and staffing of a community healthcare facility for the community.

“If the company can afford to build two health facilities and employ medical personnel for its workers, it goes without saying that it can build the same facilities to the rightful owners of the land in which they operate and make millions of Emalangeni in revenue. The building of educational facilities – from pre-school, primary school and high school, as well as a technical high school similar to U-Tech in Big Bend. This will develop the skills of the community children so that they can work for the company,” read some of the demands.

They also demand employment as the unemployment rate is high and training opportunities for the youth at the company’s training centres. These include vocational training and tertiary bursaries for community children. They also want consideration and active participation of the community in outsourced business opportunities like transport logistics, supply chain, harvesting, maintenance etc.

Group Public Affairs Manager - RES Corporation Sifiso Nyembe confirmed receipt of the petition and said they would soon meet the committee for deliberations.